HP 6 - A different Half-Blood...

The Half-Blood Prince

The Gryffindors were still floating from their victory the next day. Snape, of course, tried to dampen their spirits with more homework, but he barely dented it. Even the dread of the upcoming finals was not going to sink in another few days. McGonagall tried to get them to be more concerned about their exams, but it was hopeless. After last year's exams, Ron, Harry and Hermione felt that their sixth year exams would be nothing.

A few days later, Ron, Hermione and Harry were waiting in the common room for Ginny to get out of class before they ate dinner. Hermione and Harry sat down by the fire, but Ron was playing out the match for them, again. Hermione tried to show interest, but after hearing it for about the fifteenth time....

"Then Pucey tries to put it throw the right hoop, but he switched at the last second. But I was one step ahead of him.... I reached out and caught it... and you should have seen the look on that son-of-a... well... we sure put his face in the dirt," Ron finished somewhat lamely, looking at Hermione's criticizing face. He finally sat down and let out a breath of exhaustion.

Harry, who had just been smiling at Ron's theatrics, said, "Done already?"

"Yeah..." Ron started, but his face was starting to become more serious. "Look Harry... thanks for letting me be captain. You didn't have to...."

Harry hesitated, but then said, "Ron, come on... drop it. What kind of captain would I have made? You did great. Making up the training program and teaching us new moves.... You were the right person for the job."

Ron nodded slowly still slightly embarrassed, and Hermione was just looking nervously between them.

"Yeah, but thanks..." he mumbled, and at that moment, Ginny got back from classes and angrily threw her book-filled bag on the floor.

"How did you guys get through all the homework?" Ginny said, disheveled.

"Homework? What homework?" Ron said, sarcastically.

"What were you guys talking about?" Ginny said, ignoring him.

"What else?" Harry said, yawning.

"Quidditch?" Ginny asked, with a raised eyebrow.

"Quidditch," Hermione repeated, rolling her eyes.

"Quidditch... well, it was a hard fought victory, in which we almost died many times. Can we go eat, now?" Ginny said, slightly worn-out.

"Yeah, but remember Malfoy at the end?" Ron said, getting up and starting up one of his rants.

"Oh yeah, trying to hex Harry after the match was over. He's such a sore loser," Hermione said, shaking her head, as they climbed through the portrait hole.

"But Harry just pulled out his wand... and hit him! That was great, mate," Ron said, grinning.

"Yeah, I'm surprised he stopped there," Hermione said.

"Nah. He was done. It was hopeless after that," Ginny laughed.

"Yeah, he was just frozen there. It was the funniest thing I've ever seen! I should've went up and gave him a good kick," Ron said and they continued their conversation down to the Great Hall.

Harry did not say anything. Something started to nag him. It was not the game, or even Malfoy. It was his father. The scenes in Snape's Pensieve drifted into his mind and Malfoy looked just like Snape did when his father froze him. Now, Malfoy was the most hated kid in school now, just like Snape was.

Am I just like my father? he thought. Malfoy was attacking him. So? Snape charged my father, too. The match had been Malfoy's last chance to win some glory. Harry did say much all through dinner and when they came back upstairs. Ron and Hermione did not notice, but they were too wrapped up in each other. Ginny, however, could not help but notice.

"Harry, want to help out at my study group?" she asked, not too long after they got back to the common room.

"Yeah... sure..." Harry said, nonchalantly.

"Well, it's starting soon, so let's go down, now," Ginny said, getting up and grabbing her things.

She led the way and Harry followed. They went down to the empty classroom they usually commandeered and sat down. It was only then that Harry realized that no one else was there.

"Where is everyone?" he asked.

"It doesn't start for another hour," Ginny said, looking into his eyes.

"Then..." Harry started, a little confused.

"What's bothering you? You've been quiet since we went down to dinner," she said, thoughtfully. It took him slightly aback, but realized that he had been unusually quiet at dinner and she would have noticed it.

"It's complicated," he managed to voice out, grimacing.

"We got an hour," she said, brightly.

Harry hesitated. Explaining what his father and Sirius had done to Snape was a difficult topic. Snape threatened him never to tell anyone about it, but he looked into Ginny's eyes and knew he had to tell her. Sirius was gone and he felt he could not talk to Lupin, after what had happened at the Ministry. He slowly explained how his father acted at school and how he treated Snape. When he finished, Ginny paused for a moment, as though considering what to say.

"Do you think you are like that?" she finally asked.

"Well..." he started.

"Harry don't.... You didn't do it to show off or because you were bored. Malfoy was about to curse you. You had to defend yourself," Ginny said, with some resolve.

"Ginny, before I came here, I didn't have any friends and was the most hated person in school. Even here... how many times was I singled out? And..." he rambled on.

"Don't forget Malfoy was a good part of making sure that happened! He always went out of his way to make fun of you. Remember those badges? And that stupid song? Buckbeak? Harry, his father is a Death Eater and he's been toting their philosophy since... well... forever. There is a reason why everyone hates him. You can't blame yourself for that," Ginny said, taking his hand and looking into his eyes.

"I guess. I just never thought I'd feel sorry for him," Harry admitted.

"Well, he doesn't even deserve that. He's probably the spy, but don't worry about him. You should know better than anyone that you can't make people choose who to like and who to hate," Ginny said, truthfully.

Harry nodded, though not completely convinced, but when the rest of the group started to arrive, it stopped their discussion.

* * * * *

Exams fell upon them quick. Ginny was a nervous wreck from studying, but Harry helped her and the rest of her study group. Hermione and Ron studied for their exams together, but it probably was not the best thing to do, Harry thought retrospectively. They were just as behind in studying as he was, but thankfully, most their exams focused more on practical applications of Animomency and spell-work.

The sixth-year exams were spread over a week-and-a-half, while Ginny had two full weeks. Hagrid's exam was surprisingly only a written exam on young rearing and dragons. McGonagall put them to the test with a portion on Vanishing and Conjuring using Animomency and large animal Transfiguration. Fortunately, she did not want them to Transfigure each other as a test.

Snape then put them through their paces with a long two-part exam in Defense Against the Dark Arts. The first day had a lengthy written portion covering the curses and hexes they learned and the practical portion the next day was even harder. Snape gave them a large spider to test their knowledge on with all the spells he had taught them only using Animomency. Herbology and Charms were just as difficult, but they all drove through it.

Snape's Potions exam was the hardest for Harry and Hermione, but they were sweating through it, even with Snape breathing down on them. They were midway through making the N.E.W.T. level antidote Gregor's Revival, when something strange happened. Harry felt a quite familiar pain sear across his scar, but that was not the only place he felt pain. He pulled back the sleeve on his right arm and looked at the source of this new pain center. He was astonished to find a blackened Dark Mark on his forearm. He could not believe it. He glanced up at Snape and saw that he was instinctively rubbing his burning forearm, but stopped when he noticed Harry was watching him.

"Hurry up and finish your exam!" Snape yelled suddenly at the class and went into his office, slamming the door.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at each for an indication about what happened. Only when Seamus's potion started to emit sparks, did they return to their concoctions.

Harry looked at his forearm again, but the mark was gone. Maybe I was just imagining it, he thought, but if it was in his head, Snape would not have felt it, too. As he feverishly stirred his potion, he thought about why Voldemort was calling all of his Death Eaters to him. He managed to make a decent antidote and then looked around. Everyone else was done and Snape still had not come back.

Hermione was brave enough to go and knock on his office door, but no one answered. They waited for another half-hour and then they all decided to put their potions in a flask and leave it on his desk. They walked up to the Great Hall and Harry told Ron and Hermione about his arm and Snape. This new twist unnerved them slightly, but the end of exams celebration drove it out of their minds.

Ginny had finished her exams same day and they thankfully celebrated with rest of the House in the common room. However, it was not even midnight before the common room was empty besides them. The exams had completely drained the life out of everyone, especially Ginny, so she went up to bed first.

Harry decided to let Ron and Hermione have some time to themselves, and headed up to his four-poster bed. Neville and Dean were already sleeping, but Seamus was not there. He pulled out his pajamas, and was about to change, when the door opened to the room. He did not think anything of it, until red blast knocked him to the floor. Someone then grabbed his wand and walked behind him, putting Harry between him and the door. Harry looked up. It was Seamus.

"Relax, Potter. We are going to take a little trip," he said, grinning maliciously.

"Seamus... what the heck are you doing?" Harry said, thunderstruck.

"Declaring my loyalties, Potter. The Dark Lord wants to see you," he said, looking down at him, darkly.

Harry got up. He was defenseless, but thankfully, still had his mother's wand around his leg. However, Seamus had the advantage, and it was not worth the risk at the moment. He looked at Dean and Neville, who were fast asleep.

"Don't worry about them, Potter. A simple Sleeping Draught did the trick. Not like the Draught of Dreaming Sleep I gave you," Seamus said, grinning a wide smile.

"You gave me?" Harry asked angrily.

"Yes... and Malfoy, here. We had Nott come over to distract you."

"Malfoy... here?" Harry said and turned to see none other than Draco Malfoy in Gryffindor tower.

"Hello, Potter. My father's out now and he's just dying to see you," he said coldly, with his wand out. Harry was struck dumb. He turned back to Seamus, who was enjoying his confusion.

"Why?" Harry managed to say.

"Why?" he mimicked cruelly, "because my mother is a Death Eater, and now I am, too," Seamus said and he pulled his sleeve up to reveal his own Dark Mark.

"Malfoy has been staying with us and we decided to use my advantage over you. My mother is a distant cousin of theirs. Her aunt, married into the Black family and her maiden name is Rosier. That name should be familiar to you. But even so, I knew you would never suspect me. Last year, when the Dark Lord returned, mother told me to say I didn't believe you, but I figured that if I turned before everyone found out, you would trust me more. And so you did. Now, you might have escaped the Dark Lord in your dreams, but we're going to see him in person. We've wasted enough time talking. Get moving or I'll tie you up and you can float out," he said, determinately.

Seamus and Malfoy both had their wands out. It was pointless to resist. Malfoy backed out of the door and led slowly them down to the common room. Ron and Hermione were asleep on the couch. There were bottles of Butterbeer in front of them.

"People can be so stupid. Malfoy suggested bringing them with us, but we'll take care of your pitiful friends easy enough," Seamus said, mercilessly.

Seamus directed him out of the common room. The walk down was slow. Harry prayed for anyone to find them, and surprisingly, he got his wish. On the third floor, they met Filch, who came rounding around a corner, smiling victoriously.

"Three students out of bed and one is Potter! You will get expelled for sure this time!" Filch said, ecstatically.

"Be silent, squib!" Seamus spat at him.

"What did you call me!?!" Filch shouted, as his face contorted with rage.

"Nothing you will repeat... Imperio!" Seamus shouted, and Filch went strange and left.

Seamus then motioned dangerously for him to continue. They did not meet anyone else as they walked through the front doors and were bathed in moonlight. Harry did not need to ask where they were going, he already knew.

The Forbidden Forest lay stretched out before them. They walked toward the lake and right by Hagrid's hut, which was unlit. He glanced back at the castle and hoped someone saw them. The full moon reflected brightly off the water and completely lit them up, but there was no indication that anyone noticed them.

As they past Nemesis and Buckbeak's padlock, Nemesis looked at them and shrieked. Unfortunately, Hagrid still had her chained up, because she had recently tried to attack a few students, who had gotten too close to one of the baby hippogriffins.

"She almost gave me away. They don't like 'treacherous' people," Seamus chuckled and Harry suddenly remembered that Nemesis had almost attacked him. Hagrid had said that they were champions of the righteous.

They went into the woods, and nothing else was said as they marched forward for what seemed like hours. Malfoy and Seamus were walking cautiously behind him. Harry had been in the forest many times, meeting centaurs, spiders and even Grawp, but he had never gone this far into the woods before. They had been walking so long that Harry suddenly realized that the sleeping potion that Seamus gave Ron and Hermione would only last for an hour or so. He had to stall. They would alert Dumbledore as soon as they woke up.

"How can you be a Death Eater? You're in Gryffindor!" Harry said, stopped suddenly.

"Keep going!" Seamus said, roughly shoving him forward, but answered his question.

"The Sorting Hat did want to put me in Slytherin, but I wanted to be in Gryffindor. Everybody always thinks that the Slytherins are Death Eaters. If I was in Gryffindor, it would be a perfect place to launch an attack. Besides times change people. Don't you remember what the Sorting Hat said at the beginning of the year? You should have listened more closely," he said, looking around them for signs of dangers, as he continued to walk beside him.

"But why side with Voldemort? You're not a pureblood!" Harry yelled, angrily.

"Because, Potter, I'm just like the Dark Lord and he will reward me greatly for delivering you to him. All the power I want will be open to me. I will be at his right hand to rule. I WILL be the half-blood prince to the Dark Lord!" Seamus cruelly laughed in a way that reminded him of Voldemort.

"Yeah, I can't wait to watch you squirm!" Malfoy added, smiling, as they entered a small clearing.

"Shut up, Malfoy! You are lucky that I even let you come! Our Master is not happy with your father. After his failure at the Ministry and his exploits at the World Cup, the Dark Lord is very disappointed with him!" Seamus spat at him, and looking at Malfoy completely appalled.

Harry thought to capitalize on his captors' conflict, but Seamus looked warningly at him.

"Seamus..." Malfoy started furiously, but did not say anything else.

"Stow it, Malfoy. We're here," Seamus sneered, turning away from him.

It was only then when Harry realized they had stopped in front of something that was half-hidden in vines and really out of place.